The "Rape-Cop Juror" Tell-All

So we all had a Big Bunch of
Feelings about the NYPD
rape trial of the summer. And now, in a really pretty
incredible move, one of the jurors has written a very serious
account of what it was like to serve. Back in June, Patrick
Kirkland wrote
on his blog: “Over the last three months, I’ve been unable to
talk about a major part of my life. No, it’s not because I didn’t
know how to, or I didn’t know what to say, but because, by law, I
couldn’t. As a writer, I was told specifically not to write about
them. Not to document it, not to research it. Nothing. Because over
the last three months, I’ve been a juror on a major criminal case
in New York City.”

And now, over at Gothamist, he has. At length. (The PDF is
$1.99;
on Amazon, for Kindle, it’s $2.99.) It’s a fascinating read,
and I mean that in a very honest sense. In large part it’s about
how unbelievably important jury service is in America, and about
how we treat those accused of crimes. Whether you like the verdict
or not, or whether you like the case presented by prosecutors or
not (SIGH), this view into the thinking and process of the jurors
is really valuable. It also may upset you!